Day is Gone
by Katowisp
Summary: When going West is more than just reaching a destination. 39 and 58 undertones.


Disclaimers: These guys aren't mine. They all belong to Minekura.  
  
Day is Gone  
  
It had been a long day.  
  
They had traveled into the setting sun, as always. The sky had remained clear and blue through the whole day. The sun had set quietly, with out much fanfare. It had been achingly bright though, in those last minutes. Hakkai had been forced to squint, and the others had averted their eyes from the painful rays.  
  
But then the sun had gone, and it was time to make camp. Even Sanzo, who would force them on relentlessly had been forced to call a halt to their travel. It had grown too black to go any further, for the sun had set and the moon had yet to rise. The Eastern sky was dark, almost black, with thousands of stars blanketing it. The West still held a little light, but not for much longer, and not enough to guide them.  
  
Sometimes they could continue on into the night, Hakuryuu's beams shining valiantly into the darkness and driving them on. But tonight they had had to stop—it was dark, and they were tired.  
  
They built a fire. It fought off the darkness for a while, the orange flames flickering and reaching into the sky. A dark column of smoke rose from it, drifting up and away, lost in the air currents. There wasn't much wood, so they probably wouldn't be able to keep the fire burning throughout the night. But it would be enough.  
  
They would take watches, just in case. It wasn't safe, even in these times. Goku would hold the watch this night—it was okay by him. The others stayed up for a long time too, and that made things easier.  
  
Gojyo and Hakkai talked the longest, about the West, and if they would ever reach it. They had traveled for so long, and were tired of it. But there was something to be said for journeys, the redhead supposed aloud.  
  
The night dragged on, and the conversation began to lag. He jerked out of his sleep as Hakkai's light touch startled him. Red eyes met green, and amusement flickered between them. It was all right; the conversation was done for the night. It was time for Gojyo to sleep.  
  
Hakkai watched the redhead slip easily into unconsciousness. After a moment, he eased onto his back, studying the stars. They blanketed the dark sky in flickering dots of hopeful light. When he had been a teacher, he had known all the constellations, and their stories. He had known where they were, and how they moved across the sky. All he knew now though were the major ones, and only parts of their stories. He could hardly remember their movement at all.  
  
He had forgotten a lot on this journey, but that was just as well. Things had faded along the way, and though there were some things he wanted to remember, they carried pain and hurt. The journey had somehow convinced him that it wasn't so important to hold onto those memories anymore.  
  
And so he had let them go.  
  
Goku, still on watch, saw Hakkai fall asleep. After a moment, gold eyes turned to the east. If he strained, he could just make out a change in the color of the sky. But it was still a while before dawn, and there was a good chance he was only being hopeful. Still, there wasn't much he could do but wait for it. Sanzo would be up soon, he always was. Goku wasn't sure how he did it.  
  
It was these early hours he hated the most. Most of the animals had gone to sleep, and the moon was beginning to set, and so it was just he and the sky and the earth. That's all there had been in the beginning. He had learned that somewhere along the way, along with all the things he had forgotten.  
  
He remembered the beginning, with just the sky and the moon, and the mountain beneath him. He had been happy, but only because that's all he had known. He couldn't return to that time now, not with what he had now.  
  
By the time Sanzo stirred and woke, the sky had definitely grown lighter. The stars were faded out now, the east a washed out blue. The monk climbed almost stiffly too his feet before walking over to settle next to Goku, taking up the position of watch. The two sat silently side by side for a long time. Goku watched the sun peek over the horizon, tentatively rising into the sky and casting weak, early morning light across the earth. As the light hit the monk, he look almost ethereal, his white robes reflecting the early light brilliantly. Violet and gold eyes met.  
  
"Idiot, you can go to sleep now."  
  
End  
  
That's a little ficlet I came up with last night. It's not what I had intended to write at all...  
  
Now that you've read it once, go back and read it again. The whole story is a giant metaphor for death, if you didn't pick up on it. The journey is life Going West is dying. Sanzo waking up in the morning is rebirth. Because Goku's immortal, he's seen everyone else go through the reincarnation wheel a number of times, and so that's why Sanzo tells him he can finally sleep.  
  
Pretty much everything has symbolism in it, so you can fill in the details. 


End file.
